Category Archives: birds

Our House

Posted on 17 June 2024 by rpg

It’s not just the wrens. This is Shorty. Shorty is a year-old robin, one of the expanding family that lives in the shaggy old laurel tree out the front, and together with his (or her—difficult to tell with robins) parents/sibs, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Three Little Birds

Posted on 28 May 2024 by rpg

I’ve said elsewhere that our garden is a wildlife paradise. Turns out that the house is, too. I often see our family of robins just outside the kitchen door, by the hen house. I’ve taken to shaking the hen feeder … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Don’t let me be misunderstood

Posted on 14 January 2024 by rpg

Watling Street services, just off the A2, is my local petrol station. You might stop there as you head east from the M25 towards the North Kent coast. It’s cheaper than any of the places further out, and has a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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English Trees

Posted on 1 January 2024 by rpg

It was a lovely morning, for 1 January. The sun made a valiant effort to warm our faces, or at least blind us as we turned up Bean Lane, and we parked our new, Green (and green) Mini in the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Disturbing the natural order – the case of neonicotinoid insecticides and farmland birds

Posted on 23 July 2014 by Philip Strange

A swift   One of my favourite nature writers is Mark Cocker who has the ability to capture a scene or an idea in a few hundred words. Despite his immense knowledge he never loses his sense of awe and … Continue reading →

Posted in bees, birds, center for food safety, conservation, farmland birds, George Monbiot, Guest posts, imidacloprid, insectivorous birds, Kenneth Allsop, mark cocker, neonicotinoids, netherlands, radboud university, swift, yellow wagtail | Comments Off on Disturbing the natural order – the case of neonicotinoid insecticides and farmland birds

Costa Rica: Part 2- river adventures (“Don’t cross the river, if you can’t swim the tide…”)

Posted on 30 March 2014 by Steve Caplan

No visit to Costa Rica would be complete without visiting the fascinating rivers than run through the luscious rain forests. However, there are a wide variety of river adventures, some of which I would warmly endorse, whereas others – well … Continue reading →

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Costa Rica – Part 1: The Tree House

Posted on 21 March 2014 by Steve Caplan

Our Casa de Rana (frog) Tree House, recently Costa Rica is an incredible country, often described as the “Switzerland of Central America” (apologies to my UK friends, but Ben Nevis and the Munroes don’t quite compare with the Alps…). A … Continue reading →

Posted in Arenal, armadillo, birds, coffee, conservation, Costa Rica, ecotourism, education, guides, hummingbirds, rain forest, science, Tree House, tropical paradise | Comments Off on Costa Rica – Part 1: The Tree House

Surfacing from the jungles of Central America

Posted on 16 March 2014 by Steve Caplan

Following my 3rd trip to Central America in the last 10 years, and my second visit to Costa Rica, I have returned from the rain and cloud forests invigorated by the immense diversity of flora and fauna, with the spectacular … Continue reading →

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Next time you see Nelson’s Column, think of Dartmoor

Posted on 24 September 2013 by Philip Strange

Dartmoor is the largest and wildest area of open country in the south of England but despite the wildness, the human imprint is never far away. For many years, the moor has been exploited by industry which has shaped the … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, china clay, dartmoor, devon, flowers, granite, Guest posts, nelson's column, richard mabey, stephen spielberg, warhorse | Comments Off on Next time you see Nelson’s Column, think of Dartmoor

She laments, sir,….. her husband goes this morning a-birding

Posted on 17 August 2013 by Philip Strange

The book stall consisted of at least six large tables covered with all kinds and all sizes of books. Judging from the number of people milling around the stall, there was quality here although the prices (50p for paperbacks and … Continue reading →

Posted in Alastair Fitter, birds, book stall, burton bradstock, church fete, Cirl Bunting, climate change, conservation, flowers, Guest posts, nature books, Richard Fitter | Comments Off on She laments, sir,….. her husband goes this morning a-birding